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Once Upon a Time 4×14- Enter the Dragon – Review (Spoilers)

This episode was Regina centric. Regina started her stint as spy with The Queens and we got a flashback where we learned that Regina is responsible for Maleficent getting her power back. This flashback was used mostly to show how at one point Regina reminded Maleficent of who she was and now it would seem that Maleficent is trying to repay the favor.

The episode starts with Regina approaching The Queens and telling them that she wants in on their plan. They, of course, do not trust her at her word. She has to prove herself to them. They put her through a few trivial trials to see if she has gone soft. She needs to prove beyond a doubt that she is on their side or else they will never tell her what she needs to know.

Regina is not happy about her roll but she is determined to play it right. This Regina is confident in herself and her abilities to connect with these women and make them trust her. This Regina is much different then the one who approached Maleficent all those years ago.

When Regina walked in Maleficent’s castle she was scared and timid. She knew she was walking into the home of someone who could easily kill her. She knew the stories and knew the power this woman was supposed to possess. What she found is a disaster of a woman. Maleficent is depressed and cares about nothing and no one. This threw Regina for a loop because she always saw power as keeping someone together. If you are super powerful then you need nothing else. There is nothing that can break you and no one that can hurt you. What she saw before her was the opposite of that. Maleficent failed at her mission and she was beyond hope. This one moment does humanize someone that is supposed to be our major villain. These people are not infallible. They can hurt and they can break. Regina has shown us this process throughout the seasons.

Past Regina is concentrated on revenge and getting to hurt Snow White. She becomes determined to help Maleficent regain her past power and ability to become a dragon. She needs to reignite the fire inside of her. Regina needs to see that this woman can get her revenge and hurt people. Regina needs to see a revenge plan in action.

Rumple is Regina’s teacher at this point and he sent her to Maleficent because Regina is impatient. Regina wants Snow dead and she wants her dead now. She thinks that with Snow dead she will have her revenge and the ache in her chest will ease. What Maleficent teaches her is that revenge takes time. She also learns that killing Snow is not the answer. This is the point when Regina put her plan of destroying everything Snow loves into action. We learn that Maleficent helped shape the Regina we have now.

In the present, Maleficent decides that to prove herself Regina needs to kidnap Pinocchio. They want to torture him to get him to remember what he knew when he was August. They firmly believe he has the answer to who the author is and how the storybook works.

We see that Regina is not going to backslide easily. She initially balks at the idea of taking the boy and hurting him. She tries to get out it but is unsuccessful. She then makes it her mission to protect Pinocchio from any major harm. She knows she has to play her role but she is not going to hurt someone to do that. The good in Regina is strong.

The only part that is a bit worrying about her plan is that she ditches Emma. Emma was following her and watching just in case Regina ended up in a situation she couldn’t get herself out of. She tells Emma, “I got this.” This is a very confident statement and has me a bit worried.

Regina is like a drug addict or an alcoholic. To recover from addiction one of the main things addicts are supposed to do is stay away from what they were addicted to for a while. They have to get over the initial addiction before they can have that temptation around them again. They have to gain strength against what hurt them. Regina has come a very long way but I am not sure that she has come far enough for what this spying situation needs. Doing this alone without anyone watching her just seems to be spell bad news to me. She needs someone there to pull her back if she breaks down. We saw her freak out on Pinocchio and it showed us that the woman who used anger and power to get what she wanted is not completely buried yet. I just hope this situation doesn’t go on too long and relapse her.

Regina learns at the end of the episode that Rumple is back in town. She realizes quickly that this changes a lot of what she believe is going on. She is going to have to get out somehow and pass that information on soon before things start unraveling.
Rumple had a small part in this episode and in those few scenes he has basically destroyed any chances he ever had with Belle. Rumple took on Hooks appearance and convinced Belle to give him the dagger. Rumple is now in possession of the dagger again and now no one can stop him. We know he will never give up that dagger again.

Belle will find out what Rumple has done and there is no way she will ever trust him again. If Rumple had any hope in getting her back, that is gone now. One of the major issues between the two of them was that Belle could not completely trust Rumple. Rumple never told her everything and never gave her everything. He cannot walk away from the power that the dagger represents. Now that he has done this to Belle he can never get her back.

We see again that Rumple is hurt about Belle’s relationship with Will. He is crushed when she is telling him that Will makes her smile. He realizes that he has lost Belle to another man because he could never do what Will has done. He made her smile once in a while but not often. Belle was always wondering what Rumple was hiding, or what she was missing. We know Will has secrets but they are nothing compared to what Rumple hid from her. In the end we see that what is clutched in his hand, the dagger, is what means the most to him. And unless he can let that dagger go, he will never see his happy ending.

Rumple and The Queen’s want happy endings without having to lose anything in the process. They want the author to do the work that they won’t do. But a story doesn’t work if a happy ending is gotten without any work or sacrifice. That type of happy ending is hollow and leaves a reader empty and needing more.

Quotes:
“Don’t even know what revenge looks like,”- Rumple – Past Rumple tells this to Regina. Regina wants Snow dead at first. She thinks with Snow’s death that everything will be fine. What Regina learns is that revenge takes time and requires work, similar to true happy endings.

“Pain always makes you stronger,” – Maleficent- The villain’s thrive off pain. They like to see people hurt, it makes them happy. But pain can strengthen the heroes too. They become intent on keeping pain away. The heroes will work just as hard to prevent pain as the villains do to cause it.

“Spent so much time around heroes you forgot who you are,” – Maleficent- What Maleficent doesn’t realize is that who someone is, is complicated. You aren’t one aspect of your past, actions or personality. It is all that together. Regina knows who she is and she is going to fight tooth and nail to hold onto that person.

Questions:
August is back, what does he know or remember?
Did August meet the author at one time?
How did he find out about the author?
Will it require torture to get the information to of him? Will Regina take part?
How long is Regina going to be able to stay undercover without relapsing?
When will Regina tell the others that Rumple is back?
Will Rumple try to get Belle back? Is their relationship completely destroyed?
Will we find out more about Will soon? What happened to his love?
Who is the author?
Can the author help? Will he or she help?
What are all the blank books for? Are there other books?
Where is Robin Hood?
When will Emma find out about all the secrets being kept from her?
Is Maleficent’s child dead or just lost?
How will Emma react to Snow and Charming’s lies?

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"Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift." (Morgenstern, Erin, The Night Circus, pg 505)

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